


Bring on the Thunder

by asimpleline18



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-30 12:11:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13951296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asimpleline18/pseuds/asimpleline18
Summary: I've been so busy with life that I didn't post it here on or around Valentine's Day. It was hard to keep this fic from growing out of control. Maybe I'll return to it sometime and make it a series. This is one of my dream ships. I like it but I've never really had any ideas for them before. I also want to flesh out the whole soulmate thing I came up with that I couldn't fit into 3000 words or less. Basically, everyone has an aura and soulmates have the same color aura. People with similarly colored auras have potential for other kinds of life partners (platonic, romantic, and/or sexual). What does that mean for people who are opposite on a color wheel? I don't know yet. Enemies, friendemies, extremely passionate but short-lived relationships? This would be one aspect I'm interested in exploring.This is definitely my last fandom challenge for a while. I just feel like I keep coming up with lackluster ideas for these where I thrived before. I have a bunch of other ideas in the works so it's not like I'm taking a break from writing. I'm just having trouble juggling writing with life and the stress that comes with it without adding a deadline on top of it.





	Bring on the Thunder

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dellessa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dellessa/gifts).



> I've been so busy with life that I didn't post it here on or around Valentine's Day. It was hard to keep this fic from growing out of control. Maybe I'll return to it sometime and make it a series. This is one of my dream ships. I like it but I've never really had any ideas for them before. I also want to flesh out the whole soulmate thing I came up with that I couldn't fit into 3000 words or less. Basically, everyone has an aura and soulmates have the same color aura. People with similarly colored auras have potential for other kinds of life partners (platonic, romantic, and/or sexual). What does that mean for people who are opposite on a color wheel? I don't know yet. Enemies, friendemies, extremely passionate but short-lived relationships? This would be one aspect I'm interested in exploring.
> 
> This is definitely my last fandom challenge for a while. I just feel like I keep coming up with lackluster ideas for these where I thrived before. I have a bunch of other ideas in the works so it's not like I'm taking a break from writing. I'm just having trouble juggling writing with life and the stress that comes with it without adding a deadline on top of it.

 

When Alexei moved to America to play hockey, the last thing on his mind was finding his soulmate. He was really attracted to other men so he thought that his soulmate would also be a man unless his heartstrings decided to make a drastic change. Because of that, it was better if he didn't find his match considering the consequences of doing so in his homeland and he wanted to continue to play hockey.

He happily pulled on the Falconers' jersey when they chose him in the draft. Alexei didn't really have a preference for teams just as long as he got to play. He knew there were a smaller paycheck and smaller chance a the Stanley Cup with expansion teams but after meeting Georgia Martin, he felt very comfortable with his new team's management. They might be a small market but the team was trying its very best to change that.

In other words, he felt safe. He moved to Providence early with the help of Ivan Petrov who would house him for the year. While Alexei desperately wanted his own place, everyone around him discouraged it. A lot of the arguments were about waiting for his English to improve and getting used to a new country's customs so he grudgingly agreed to billet with Ivan. At least Ivan had a bachelor apartment above the free standing garage. He might get away with some stuff, like bringing home boys, with that amount of privacy.

Alexei went to the first day of development camp feeling excited and ready to rock the weightroom. After, he wasn't sure about the whole playing hockey professionally thing. He laid face down on the couch in the main house, moaning about how bad his body felt while Ivan laughed.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually," he said and took a sip of his beer.

He grumbled back. "That's what you say. You've been doing this for years. I thought I was training well in Russia."

"Only the first camp is this bad. They're trying to scare you away," Ivan said. "The rest of the preseason isn't so bad especially once you've been in the NHL for a couple of years. You get used to the workouts."

Alexei just groaned into the pillow again.

He rolled out of bed the next day feeling just as bad as the evening before. At least they would be on the ice running drills, still hard on the body but Alexei doesn't have to actually show how much his strength degraded due to overworked muscles. He kept his head down in the locker room and put on his equipment while English buzzed around him. Alexei had a translator but it was no use to have him provide a constant stream of the chatter around him. Plus, the guy seemed more interested in his phone than anything anyone would say to Alexei. He wasn't the only Russian at development camp but a lot of them already seemed to know each other or other people there.

Suddenly, a goalie in all of his pads sat down on the bench next to him. "Hey," he said smiling at Alexei.

"Hello," he said slowly back.

The man smiled brightly at him and stuck out a hand. "I'm Jacob Snow but most people call me Snowy."

Alexei took it and said, "I'm Alexei Mashkov. I don't have um, um..."

"A nickname?" Snowy gently supplied.

"Yes! No nickname. Very new." he replied excitedly.

"I thought so. We'll find you one soon enough. This is my second year. I'm from the farm team but I think I have a shot this year. The old goalie retired and the Falconers didn't draft a new goalie," he said. "I'm really excited to work with the team."

Alexei looked a little dazed and Snowy caught on. "Oh! Sorry. Translator?" he asked pointing to the disinterested translator still on his phone.

He nodded. "Hey, dude," Snowy called to the man. "A little help here?"

Surprisingly, the translator could be pulled off his phone just long enough to assist with the conversation. Eventually, they all filled out onto the ice and Snow and Alexei parted ways to their respective position groups. Alexei and his fellow wingers ran speed and passing drills but then it was time to shoot at the goalies.

When Alexei faced off with Snowy, he gave Alexei a wink and a "come at me" gesture. As Alexei lined up, he saw a small flash of blue in Snowy's direction. He shook his head and decided that it was just a reflection of the blue on all of their practice jerseys. Snowy blocked all five of Tater's pucks much to his surprise and continued to have an extraordinary save rate for the rest of the drill. Alexei chirped him about it at the end of the day when they all filed back into the locker room.

"You nervous about making team. Already make team. You spy," Alexei accused him.

Snowy just bumped into him. "I'm not spying and I haven't officially made the team. I'm in development just like everyone else."

"Spy."

He rolled his eyes at Alexei. "Whatever you say man. Wanna hang out after we get out of here?"

"Oh. Um. English no good," Alexei said, nervous about trying to communicate with his new friend without the benefit of a translator.

"We can find something that doesn't involve a lot of talking. Do you play video games?" he asked miming pressing buttons on an imaginary controller.

Alexei nodded excitedly. "I'm not good but I'm like play."

They started spending time together, first playing video games and then coming up with ways to help Alexei learn English. Snowy mostly helped with colloquialisms and idioms much to Alexei's tutor's displeasure. Alexei was surprised by Snowy's patience when communicating. On the other hand, Alexei became frustrated very often and mostly with himself but Snowy always urged him to be gentle with himself.

During this time, Alexei started seeing more flashes of blue signaling that he was around his soulmate. Their shared auras must be the same color as the Falconers' blue. He ignored it most of the time, still not sure whether he wanted to face his soulmate. He especially ignored it when it was just him and Snowy.

However, this state of ignorance could last only so long. Snowy had come over to Alexei's apartment and they were watching something on the TV when Snowy brought it up.

"Hey, Alexei. Have you been noticing any soulmate smudges?" he asked.

Alexei shrugged. "Don't know what you are talking."

Snowy turns off the TV. "C'mon. Don't play dumb with me. I can't be the only one noticing it. It doesn't happen when I hang out with any of the other guys. Have you ever gone to get your aura read?"

"No need. Here to play hockey. I play hockey," Alexei said stubbornly.

"But what if you could do more than play hockey!" Snowy shouted. "Not everything has to do with this stupid sport! I'm tired of people acting like this is all there is!"

He suddenly stood up and walked to the door. "Let me know when you pull your head out of your ass!" and he left, slamming the door behind him.

Cold realization washed over Alexei. He was too stubborn and clutched too hard to his feigned ignorance. Even with the dangers it might pose, he met his soulmate and his soulmate was about to confirm it. Alexei leaned forward and put his head into his hands. Even without Snowy probably being his soulmate, he just fought with the first best friend he had in this new, confusing world. They had a few days off between development camp and team camp in which a roster of those who were tentatively on the team would be announced.

He debated with himself with what to do. It wasn't easy for Alexei to go anywhere especially Snowy's apartment building across town. Snowy was usually the one to drive them places. Otherwise, Alexei would have to explain everything to Ivan about liking other boys and that he was pretty sure Snowy was also his soulmate. He couldn't be sure anyone would be happy about that development, especially management.

Instead of doing anything productive, he just laid out on his sofa and daydreamed about what he had been denying himself so long.

* * *

When Alexei was contacted later in the week about his eligibility for team camp, he didn't have the heart to ask who else made it. Instead, he thanked Georgia as well as he could and contemplated what else he could do. Ivan and his wife asked after Snowy a couple of times but dropped it when Alexei revealed they were fighting. He wasn't any closer to finding a solution.

The first team camp day came and went. Alexei tried to catch Snowy's eye and wave to him but he busied himself with either other French Canadians or goalies. He was still competing for the starting position on the team. Snowy managed to change and disappear from the locker room at the end of the day without Alexei getting to him first.

He was miserable when he got into the car with Ivan who started the car in silence and began driving. Instead of taking them home, he drove to their favorite local Russian restaurant. Alexei tried to argue that he wanted to go home but a look from Ivan deterred that. He sullenly followed his mentor to a table and they ordered their respective favorites before Ivan leveled a look at Alexei.

"What's wrong with you and Snowy. Did he do something to you? Did you do something to him?" he asked sternly.

Alexei looked down at the table and picked at his straw wrapper. "I messed things up with him."

"Is this something that's going to affect the team? You didn't hurt him did you? Alexei, this isn't good," he said solemnly.

"I didn't do anything illegal. It's just," Alexei broke off with a frustrated noise. "I like men, okay? I've known for a long time that I like men but it's not okay if I want to live in Russia. It's not okay if I want to play hockey. Everywhere I look, it's not okay and it will never fit into my life!"

"Oh," Ivan said, surprised at Alexei's outburst. "Does this mean, what I think it means?"

"Yes, he's my soulmate and he brought it up but I still wanted to ignore it like I've ignored my feelings for so long and I hurt his feelings and I don't know how to fix it!" Alexei said barely taking a breath.

"That's still not what I was thinking," he said slowly.

Alexei face planted against the table. "I didn't know how to fix it and I can't go anywhere by myself because I don't have a car. I didn't want to get you involved because I didn't know how you would react to me being gay. And things are still a mess and Snowy won't even look at me."

"First, kid, it's not easy to be in your position. I won't ever know what that's like but I know people like you who have same sex soulmates. Second, I'm never going to hate you for being you. If you open up a little, you'd be surprised the kind of support you might get. Third, you just need to apologize. I would suggest making a small gesture. You two were attached at the hip, even if he wasn't your soulmate, those feelings don't go away too easily," Ivan said, counting on his fingers.

"Okay, okay," he said as he picked his head up from the table to make space for the food. "I need to go to the grocery store after this and I need a ride to Snowy's apartment."

Ivan nodded. "Do you know the address?"

He gave him a look that said "oh please" and dug into his meal. "I know exactly what to get him."

* * *

Alexei stood at the outer door of Snowy's apartment with a bouquet of flowers and a basket of assorted Reeses candy. He looked back over his shoulder and Ivan gave him a thumbs up from inside the car. Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell next to Snowy's last name. There were little snowflakes on the card which was a cute addition from whoever made the card.

"Hello?" Snowy's voice sounded from the speaker, startling Alexei out of his inspection of the name card.

"Hi. Um, don't hang up. It Alexei. Need to talk," he said quickly, hoping to keep Snowy from shutting him out again.

There was a deep sigh. "I'll buzz you up."

The door buzzed and Alexei quickly turned around and gave Ivan a thumbs up. He would stick around for about fifteen minutes in case things didn't go well. Alexei pulled the door open and quickly made his way to Snowy's door. He took a moment to center himself and knocked. It opened quickly, almost calculated quickly like the person on the other side was ready to open it but wanted to hide his impatience.

Alexei was taken aback by how much he realized he missed Snowy. He missed the floof of his hair poking out from his backward baseball cap and his blue, almost gray eyes. Snowy cleared his throat. "Uhhh, what's up?"

Panicked, Alexei shoved the flowers and chocolate at him. "These for you. I say sorry. I'm dumb."

Snowy took the items and stepped away. "Do you want to come in?"

Alexei nodded and stepped through quickly, still waiting for Snowy to change his mind. "I've never gotten flowers before. It's actually nicer than I thought it would be," Snowy said conversationally as he looked through his kitchen cupboards until he found a tall tupperware for the flowers. "Makes me wish I had invested in a vase."

"We talk?" Alexei asked.

Snowy signed again. "Yes, we're going to talk. Is this going to be about how we should wait?"

Alexei shook his head. "No. I'm apologize. Didn't mean make sad. I'm push down feelings all life and I react badly to what you say. I know I hurt feelings. Want make better."

"I don't know what's going to make this better," he said, not meeting Alexei's eyes. "I want something you clearly don't. I don't know if I can spend as much time together as before now that I know."

"No. I'm scared but I try. I'm not have relationship before. Not let," Alexei tried to explain but made a sound of frustration as he struggled with English. "Don't know if good boyfriend but try?"

"Let me get this straight and say this back to you so I know that I understand," Snowy stalled. "You've never had a relationship but you want to try with me but you're worried you're not going to be a good boyfriend?"

"Yes! Yes! That!" Alexei said excitedly. "I know how act but not act before."

Snowy seemed to relax and he walked closer to Alexei. He held out a hand and said, "We can take it slowly. We have the rest of our lives to figure it out, right?"

Alexei took it and nodded, "Yes. Try very hard."

"Lesson one: cuddling," Snowy said as he tugged Alexei to the sofa. "Maybe if you're a fast learner, we can make it to lesson two today."

"What's lesson two?"

Snowy nudged Alexei around until he felt appropriately cuddled and winked at him. "Kissing."

Alexei laughed and kissed Snowy's temple. "Can't wait."

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments encouraged! <3


End file.
